1. зоол. кукушка (Cuculus gen.) 2. кукование 3. глупец, разиня 4. разг. не в своем уме, спятивший чокнутый cuckoo boy —- парень с приветом cuckoo ideas —- завиральные идеи are you cuckoo? —- ты что, рехнулся? 5. куковать 6. беспрестанно повторять ...
кукушка В США представлена двумя видами - coccyzus erythrophthalmus и coccyzus americanus (лат.); в отличие от остальных видов самка обычно строит гнезда и высиживает птенцов, хотя изредка и подкладывает свои яйца в чужие гнезда ...
n. & adj. --n. any bird of the family Cuculidae, esp. Cuculus canorus, having a characteristic cry, and depositing its eggs in the nests of small birds. --predic.adj. sl. crazy, foolish. Phrases and idioms cuckoo clock a clock that strikes the hour with a sound like a cuckoo's call, usu. with the emergence on each note of a mechanical cuckoo. cuckoo flower 1 a meadow plant, Cardamine pratensis, with pale lilac flowers. 2 = ragged robin. cuckoo in the nest an unwelcome intruder. cuckoo-pint a wild arum, Arum maculatum, with arrow-shaped leaves and scarlet berries: also called lords and ladies (see LORD). cuckoo-spit froth exuded by larvae of insects of the family Cercopidae on leaves, stems, etc. Etymology: ME f. OF cucu, imit. ...
Толковый словарь английского языка Oxford English Reference
I. noun (plural ~s) Etymology: Middle English cuccu, of imitative origin Date: 13th century 1. a largely grayish-brown European bird (Cuculus canorus) that is a parasite given to laying its eggs in the nests of other birds which hatch them and rear the offspring; broadly any of a large family (Cuculidae of the order Cuculiformes) to which this bird belongs 2. the call of the ~ 3. a silly or slightly crackbrained person II. transitive verb Date: 1648 to repeat monotonously as a ~ does its call III. adjective Date: 1627 1. of, relating to, or resembling the ~ 2. deficient in sense or intelligence ; silly ...
~1 n a grey European bird that puts its eggs in other birds' nests and that makes a sound that sounds like its name ~2 adj informal crazy or silly (You're completely cuckoo!) ...
- 12c., from O.Fr. cucu, echoic of the bird's cry. Slang sense of "crazy" (adj.) is Amer.Eng. 1918, but noun meaning "stupid person" is first recorded 1581. ...